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Carly's Experiment (a/k/a The End of Dan-o's Hoverboard)
Log Title: Carly's Experiment (a/k/a The End of Dan-O's Hoverboard) Characters: Spike, Carly, Skydive, Prowl, Snarl, Silverbolt Location: Nevada Desert Date: 2013 'Nevada Desert - North America' Off the beaten path, one of the many Nevada deserts uninhabited by communities. It is a large stretch of land, miles and miles around. There is no build up here; no houses, no factories. In the center of it all, accessible only by a treaded dirt highway, well worn by constant travel, is a large metallic city. To the east of the city runs a river, grasses and trees thriving along its banks. To the west are mountainous rocks and canyons. Behind it are large open flats. This area is governmentally restricted to civilians, a fact enforced by the constant Autobot security patrols. (Autobot) *There's a loud , followed by the crackling sound that typically comes after a firework's been set off, followed by the sound of a woman screaming* (Autobot) The college dropout, Spike says, "Carly!" (Autobot) Carly says, "Oh crap! NOTanemergency, NOTanemergency, I can handle this, guys!" (Radio) Spike sends Carly a radio transmission, 'Where are you?!' (Autobot) Skydive says, "Oh dear!" (Radio) Carly transmits, "*sounds kind of garbled, as if under heavy wind interference* Right outside the base! Really Spike -- I got this!" to Spike. Spike has arrived. Spike runs outside, despite Carly's assurance that everything was cool, since Carly is a woman who is in distress (thanks, Sparkplug for instilling a chivalry in his son. (Autobot) Snarl says, "Do need dinobot to help, Carly?" Something is flying around quicker than a hornet, in random directions through the air. Look a little closer, and it's obvious that something is Carly, clutching very tightly to something that's almost too quick to be seen. "It'll -- eventuallyrunout -- of fuel -- aieee!" (Autobot) The college dropout, Spike says, "Mmmmmaybe, but hold up for a sec - let's see if us humans can handle it" Spike cautiously approaches Carly. "OK... anything I can do? Do you need like a container or something?" "If I let go -- can you try and catch me???" Carly asks, as she gets whisked about 30 feet up into the air in an instant. Spike calls out "Not from 30 feet up! Can you steer it down about 20 feet?! Or I can radio the Autobots!" The object corkscrews quickly, spinning Carly around almost faster than the eye can see as it darts around the air. "Unfortunately, I can't steer it at ALL...it's kinda doing what it wants to do!" Spike opts against playing the hero and perhaps not catching Carly whose fall may be 30 feet, or 60 feet depending on the speed. "Just hold on for a few more seconds!' (Autobot) The college dropout, Spike says, "OK... I think I'm going to take you guys up on your offer, can someone come out to the Autobot entrance, ASAP?!" Skydive has arrived. Something *POP*s, and comes flying down in a fiery plummet. It looks like the fin off of a hoverboard. But hoverboards don't move anywhere near as fast as the object Carly's hanging onto, which is now cutting zig-zags across the sky. "This was...not a good idea!" she admits. Spike waves to Skydive and points above, about 30 feet above to Carly. "Carly's holding onto something - that's sending her airborne! Any way you can catch her from that height?" Looking Upwards, Skydive nods his head. "I think so, but my hand isn't exactly soft..." He looks perplexed. "OH! I have an idea, I read about this once!" "Skydive! Hi! Um. Not to make this urgent, but -- I'm on fire right now! Would you be able to catch me?" Carly asks, zipping around randomly like a giant hornet as she clings to the object in question. And it does appear to be on fire. Snarl has arrived. Looking away, Skydive seems to take an a measurement as he begins to runaway from Carly...he then pivots and launches into his plane mode, popping his cockpit, "Ok Carly, When I say let go...Let go!" Spike looks as Snarl lumbers in. "I think Skydive's got this, sorry, but we kind of need skilled hands! Humans don't bounce too well." "Ready when you are!" Carly calls, holding on with one hand while shaking the other, then alternating -- that object's getting pretty hot! "Ok...steady, steady..." Skydive flies slowly under Carly, a few meters below her, "NOW!" Skydive emits, his cockpit seat just under Carly, it looks soft... Spike carefully angles himself under Skydive in case Skydive doesn't make the catch and Spike may have to *gulp* break a fall from 30 feet above. Snarl comes romping into the area, thagomizer swaying, "You no need Snarl?" Carly lets go, and sheer momentum propels her into the comfy cockpit seat with the force of a few G's. "Oof!!" The object, now trailing black smoke, sails up into the air, and suddenly explodes with considerable force. Spike sighs, now feeling guilty for calling in Snarl "Not anymore, sorry!" Spike grins and claps his hand triumphantly "Woo! Awesome! Kick-aft job, Skydive!" Lowering the cockpit canopy, Skydive takes a lazy circle and then lines himself up for a landing, planning to stop near Spike. After a few more moments, he lands and rolls near Spike, popping open his cockpit again, so that Spike can help Carly out. "Here you go Spike!" Spike grins and tries not to laugh at Skydive's comment, it sort of sounds like "Heyah, here's your wife!" Spike waits for Carly to tell him the story. This should be interesting. Carly is a bit vertigo-disoriented, wobbling around like a slightly drunk person after spinning around so fast in the air. "Thank you so much...sorry for the mess!" She probably needs Spike's assistance to get out and stand up. "To say I'm embarrassed is kind of an understatement. That didn't work like I thought it would work." "Oh no worries! I need to log so many hours for my FAA certifications. So it was my pleasure, Carly and Spike." Skydive emits, "So? What was it?" Spike nods, his nerves are a bit frizzed himself. Carly dropped, then, the thing she was holding onto lethally explodes just mere seconds after Carly let go. "What it was *supposed* to be was a new fuel mixture that would allow for a much cleaner burn, with considerably less particulate matter generated," Carly admits. "Good idea: field-test the fuel. Bad idea: I decided to field test it on my son's hoverboard." Spike breathes out a sigh of relief. "Ex-hoverboard." "Well, it was kind of small for him anyway, I didn't think he'd mind. He uses the wheeled one these days anyhow," Carly explains. "But I expected it to act like rich fuel if it tested poorly -- you know, backfiring, dirty burn, and such. NEVER did I think it would behave like nitro." Carly blushes. "...Kinda glad I did ask for help," she admits, looking at some charred pieces of hoverboard. Spike looks at Skydive and Snarl and shrugs "And... what about another source of energy for the 'bots?" Spike adds "Obviously not in THIS state..." "You all are welcome to refine it and test it, but only test it on non-sentient drones until the ions stabilize," Carly warns. Reverting back to his Robot Mode, Skydive looks at everyone and waves, "New fuel, that sounds like an interesting project." Smiling, "Have you thought about asking for access to the training room for experiments, there are safeties?" Giving a thumbs up, "Sciene is pretty nifty!" Silverbolt walks confidently into the area. Silverbolt has arrived. Spike grins. "That it is, Skydive." Spike sees Silverbolt and gives a friendly wave. "Oh, I think that would be a *wonderful* idea for future experiments, for sure," Carly says. "I was just shocked, because...do you know? I was so confident in this fuel, I was all ready to test it in my Mustang. Thank goodness I didn't do THAT! But it's been fairly stable in other appliances. I tested it on a tractor last week with my R&D partner, and while the results weren't *great*, nothing like what you saw today happened." Prowl has arrived. Prowl appears. (Invited by Skydive) "A P-51 Mustang?" Skydive starts to peer around, "Where?" He looks up into the sky, "I don't see it!" He notices Silverbolt and waves, "Heya Silverbolt! I logged some flight time!" Spike sighs "Well... the fuel sounds promising..." He adds "It's definitely turbo-charged." Silverbolt trots his way out and looks to Skydive. 'you did huh? That's good Skydive." he then looks to Carly and chuckles. "I heard the popping on the radio. What happened, Carly?" Snarl flops, right then, right there, thagomizer swishing, optics dimming Spike grins and says "He also logged some big-time hero poitns, catching Carly in mid-air." Spike tilts his head and walks toward Snarl. "Woah! Woah! You OK?!" "No, silly, my *Ford* Mustang. Parked over there," Carly tells Skydive, pointing toward her car. She smiles graciously as Silverbolt arrives. "Oh, I do apologize for all of this -- honestly, it was a simple field test of an experimental fuel I'm developing for work. I wanted to test it on a small device, so I tried it out on Daniel's hoverboard, and..." Snarl's sudden flop makes her pause in concern. "What just happened??" "Yeah! Silverbolt. I knew you would be excited." He looks over at Spike, "Hero points? No...I don't think so. It was nothing, just needed the right vector and velocity, the Wind was a little gusty, so I need a slight adjustment, pretty routine..." He smiles genuinely at Spike as he looks at the Car, "Oh..." Skydive says as he tries to hide his disappointment, like a Kid who got a Gobot instead of Transformer on Christmas. He looks at the Car. "It is a very nice car." He offers with a smile. Silverbolt nudges Skydive. "no need for the long explination." But then he looks to Snarl, waiting for an answer. Spike walks closer to Snarl and slowly waves his arm near Snarl's optics to see if they register. Prowl had heard the noise over the comm, and has come to investigate the situation. With a sigh, he trudges over to Carly and the aerialbots from one of Autobot City's many entry ways. "All right, what happened here? Carly? Are you all right?" Though his question is probably already answered, because he's likely already scanned her a dozen times. Around the area are small, smoking pieces of the hoverboard-gone-berserk, which has since detonated. None of them are incendiary enough to start a fire on their own, especially in desert surroundings. Carly nods to Prowl, looking very apologetic. "Yes, everyone is fine," she says, though she's not too sure about Snarl -- her husband's on the case with the Dinobot, however. "I am terribly sorry for this. You see, I've been in the process of developing a new fuel. It's supposed to burn much cleaner than fossil fuels, and it seemed to work fine in prior field tests. But when I put the fuel in Daniel's hoverboard, and I was holding it at the time -- pow, it just took off like Blurr and began flying all over the place." Smiling at Silverbolt. "Right Boss!" Skydive smiles upwards as he saunters near his friend and brother, "Do I need to file a report?" Spike looks back at Skydive and Carly and shakes his head at Skydive's remark. Gha, do we need to file a report for EVERY dang thing we do here, oh...heyah Prowl "Skydive definitely came to the rescue just in time," Carly says gratefully. "If I had *any* indication that a simple soy-based fuel blend would make a hoverboard into a missile, I certainly wouldn't have fueled it up out here." Holding up a finger, "Just my duty Carly! You'd do the same..." Skydive says with a smile. "Heya Prowl! I was thinking we should let Carly have access to the training room for her experiments. The rooms have built in safeties!" Silverbolt says, "No need for a report, Skydive." He then chuckles to Carly. "Lesson learned huh? Perhaps using it on expendable drone would give you a bit of insight?"" Silverbolt points to SKydive. "That's a better idea." Spike adds "I'm sure we could find someone who would donate their junker - and as a 'thank you' give him or her a tour of Autobot City as well." Carly turns red. "I swear, I'm not in the explosives business. A lot of the testing I do ends up completely safe! I've worked with this fuel for so long, it ended up giving me a false sense of security," she admits. "But, yes. I'll take very good care of the training room. And I'll even clean it up when I'm done!" Snarl glances at Spike, "Yus, me Snarl fine. Me just eating sunlight!" Spike nods slowly to Snarl. "OK, he's received stranger explanations than this. Still... it may be time to see if Snarl needs a tune-up. Prowl nods at Skydive. "Yes, please." he confirms, contrary to what Silverbolt says. "Hmmm..." he ponders the idea of giving Carly access to the simulators. "I don't know, Skydive. Our simulators were designed for Cybertronian use. It may not be safe for terrans. We would need to examine the operating procedures. Though it may be possible to make slight modifications." "Well, that would be entirely up to you, naturally, and if you did allow it I would take exceptional care of the room," Carly promises. "This was just a...very random, very poor outcome." Spike smirks confidently, "Of course you guys can - " Carly pinches Spike on the...leg. Spike mysteriously shuts up. Clasping his hands together, Skydive smiles at Prowl. "Perfect!" He looks at Silverbolt smiling, "Hey Boss, can I watch the techs alter the training room?" He asks politely, assuming this is a done deal, even though the context doesn't prove it. Silverbolt says, "Sure. you may have to help them out too, Skydive." He then chuckles at Prowl, but still listens to Carly." Snarl just lounges, drawing on sunlight, tail twitching slightly Spike smiles at Snarl, not used to seeing Snarl so...docile. "OH?! I didn't even think about that Silverbolt. I'll have to catch up on the Technical Journals for the Training Room safeties." Skydive smiles, "That sounds like a lot of fun!" "You've got an interesting definition of 'fun', Skydive. You're...uniquely you," Carly notes. Spike looks over at Carly. "How much more fuel do you have left to test?" "Well, we have a bunch of it, in various stages of ionization, potency, fermentation, et cetera," Carly explains to Spike. "This phase of the test just includes trying out the fuel in motor-based appliances and various simple vehicle. Then we refine it a little more from there." Spike looks around. "As much as I'd like to hang out, I've got a few reports I need finalized for Crosscut." He nods to everyone and gives another nod to Skydive. "Awesome catch, by the way!" Spike goes to California/Nevada - North America. Spike has left. "Thank you!" Skydive says to Carly, before he looks at Silverbolt, "See...I am not always nose deep in a datapad." Carly blushes a bit. "That man. He's gonna get it later on." She shakes her head. "'Awesome catch'. Well, it...*was* a pretty awesome catch, come to think of it..." Looking perplexed, Skydive blinks at Carly and Spike, "It was nothing! I swear!" He looks at Silverbolt. "It wasn't awesome. Just Math...plus I saw it once in a movie, but they had the angle wrong..." He frowns, "I should write a letter to the studio..." "Well, I...found it particularly awesome, because otherwise I would've had to attempt my own landing. And that wouldn't have ended as well," Carly admits. Snarl gets up, looking at the bots here "Anyhow...thanks again for the rescue, and...if you could keep a test room under consideration, it would be very much appreciated," Carly says. "In the meantime, I'm going to have a little walk, and...pick up what remains of my son's hoverboard. Ugh. I think he isn't going to be happy about this," she admits as she heads out to begin cleaning up what's left of the destroyed hoverboard. Outtake: Carly is going to the brig, isn't she X) Skydive says, "No, no, no. Not the Brig. The Quiet Relaxing Room...." Skydive says, "Ok, it is the Brig.:)" Carly says, "How nice that sound-- WAIT A MINUTE ;)" Spike grins Prowl says, "that depends on what happened, here." Prowl says, "xD" Carly chuckles!